Active scanning method in wireless lan system

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an active scanning method in a wireless LAN system. The active scanning method comprises: a step of transmitting a probe request frame via a predetermined channel; and a step of receiving, from an access point, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame via a predetermined channel. The probe response frame includes main channel information on the access point. Thus, the access point can be quickly scanned.

CLAIM FOR PRIORITY

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 14/415,476, filed Jan. 16, 2015, which is a National Stage Entry ofPCT/KR2013/006412 filed on Jul. 18, 2013, which claims priority toKorean Patent Application No. 2012-0078036 filed on Jul. 18, 2012 in theKorean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the entire contents of whichare hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

Example embodiments of the present invention relate in general to thefield of an active scanning method, and more particularly, to an accesspoint scanning method in a wireless LAN system.

2. Related Art

Various wireless communication technologies have been developed togetherwith information communication technologies. One such wirelesscommunication technology, a wireless local area network (WLAN), is atechnology allowing wireless Internet access at a home or business or ata designated service providing region using a portable terminal, such asa personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer and a portablemultimedia player (PMP) based on wireless frequency technologies.

As standards for WLANs, Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards have been developed. IEEE 802.11aprovides a transmission speed of 54 Mbps by using an unlicensed band of5 GHz. IEEE 802.11b provides a transmission speed of 11 Mbps by usingdirect sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) at 2.4 GHz. IEEE 802.11g providesa transmission speed of 54 Mbps by using orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) at 2.4 GHz. IEEE 802.11n provides a transmissionspeed of 300 Mbps with respect to two spatial streams by using multipleinput multiple output (MIMO)-OFDM. IEEE 802.11n supports a channelbandwidth of 40 MHz at the maximum, and provides a transmission speed of600 Mbps.

As the development of WLANs becomes more active and applications usingWLANs are diversified, there is an increasing need for a new WLANtechnology capable of supporting a throughput higher than that the dataprocessing speed supported by IEEE 802.11n. WLAN technology for veryhigh throughput (VHT) is one of the IEEE 802.11 WLAN technologiessuggested to support a data processing speed of 1 Gbps or more. As oneof the VHT WLAN technologies, IEEE 802.11ac is being developed as astandard for supporting a VHT at a frequency band of 5 GHz or below, andIEEE 802.11ad is being developed as a standard for supporting a VHT at afrequency band of 60 GHz.

In a system based on the above described WLAN technology, a stationperforming active scanning on multiple channels has difficultyidentifying in which channel a desired access point is located, and thussequentially performs the same scan on each of the multiple channels.That is, a station transmits a probe request frame on a channel, andreceives probe response frames transmitted from access points during amaximum waiting time, and if the station fails to find a desired accesspoint on the current channel, the station performs the same process onanother channel.

Meanwhile, if an access point supports multiple channels and receives aprobe request frame through a primary channel, the access pointtransmits a probe response frame in response to the probe request frame,but for a probe request frame received through a secondary channel, theaccess point does not respond and transmit a probe response frame.

In this environment, in order to find a desired access point, a stationneeds to scan a plurality of channels, which causes a great amount oftime to be taken to find the access point.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, example embodiments of the present invention are providedto substantially obviate one or more problems due to limitations anddisadvantages of the related art.

Example embodiments of the present invention provide an active scanningmethod for rapidly finding an access point.

In some example embodiments, an active scanning method performed at astation includes: transmitting a probe request frame through a certainchannel; and receiving the certain channel from an access point througha probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame, whereinthe probe response frame includes information about a primary channel ofthe access point.

The active scanning method may further include: performing access to theaccess point on a channel represented by the information about theprimary channel.

The certain channel may be a secondary channel of the access point.

In other example embodiments, an active scanning method performed at astation includes: transmitting probe request frames through multiplechannels; and receiving probe response frames corresponding to the proberequest frames from access points through the multiple channels, whereinthe probe response frames include primary channel information of each ofthe access points.

The active scanning method may further include: performing access to anaccess point on a channel represented by one of a plurality of pieces ofprimary channel information received from the access points.

The probe request frames may be simultaneously transmitted through themultiple channels.

The multiple channels may include a primary channel and a secondarychannel of the access point.

In still other example embodiments, an active scan-based respondingmethod performed at an access point includes: receiving a probe requestframe through a certain channel; generating a probe response frameincluding information about a primary channel of the access point; andtransmitting the probe response frame through the certain channel.

The active scan-based responding method may further include performingaccess to a station based on an access request of the station throughthe primary channel.

The certain channel may be a secondary channel of the access point.

In still other example embodiments, an active scan-based respondingmethod performed at access points includes: receiving probe requestframes through multiple channels; and generating a probe response frameincluding information a primary channel of the access point.

The active scan-based responding method may further include transmittingthe probe response frame through the primary channel among the multiplechannels.

The active scan-based responding method may further include performingaccess with respect to the station based on an access request of thestation through the primary channel. The multiple channels may include aprimary channel and a secondary channel of the access point.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Example embodiments of the present invention will become more apparentby describing in detail example embodiments of the present inventionwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a conceptual view illustrating the configuration of an IEEE802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) system according to an exampleembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual view illustrating an association process of astation in an infrastructure basic service set (BSS).

FIG. 3 is a conceptual view illustrating a data transmission process ofan access point according to an example embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual view illustrating the configuration of a proberequest frame.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual view illustrating the configuration of a proberesponse frame (1 to 14).

FIG. 6 is a conceptual view illustrating the configuration of a proberesponse frame (15 to Last-n).

FIG. 7 is a conceptual view illustrating an active scanning method inmultiple channels.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual view illustrating a passive scanning method inmultiple channels.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual view illustrating a channel configuration of a 5GHz band.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an active scanning method according to anexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an active scanning method in a singlechannel according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an active scanning method according toanother example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a conceptual view illustrating an example of an activescanning method according to another example embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 14 is a conceptual view illustrating another example of an activescanning method according to another example embodiment of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Example embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein.However, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein aremerely representative for purposes of describing example embodiments ofthe present invention, and example embodiments of the present inventionshould not be construed as limited to example embodiments set forthherein, but may be embodied in many alternate forms.

Accordingly, while the invention is susceptible to various modificationsand alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit theinvention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, theinvention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternativesfalling within the spirit and scope of the invention. Like numbers referto like elements throughout the description of the figures.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. maybe used herein to describe various elements, these elements should notbe limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish oneelement from another. For example, a first element could be termed asecond element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a firstelement, without departing from the scope of the present invention. Asused herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of oneor more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being“connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyconnected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are nointervening elements present. Other words used to describe therelationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion(i.e., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directlyadjacent,” etc.).

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,”“comprising,” “includes” and/or “including,” when used herein, specifythe presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

Hereinafter, preferred example embodiments of the present invention willbe described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Thesame elements may have the same reference numerals to provide betterunderstanding of the specification, and repetition of the details ofidentical elements will be omitted in order to avoid redundancy.

In this specification, a station STA represents a certain functionalmedium including a physical layer interface with respect to a mediumaccess control (MAC) and a wireless medium according to provisions inIEEE 802.11 standards. The station STA is classified as a stationserving as an access point AP or a station serving as a non-access pointnon-AP. A station serving as an access point AP is referred to as anaccess point AP, and a station serving as a non-access point non-AP isreferred to as a terminal.

The station includes a processor and a transceiver, and may furtherinclude a user interface and a display device. The processor representsa unit that is designed to generate a frame to be transmitted through awireless network, or designed to process a frame received through awireless network, and in order to control the station STA, the processorperforms various functions. The transceiver represents a unitfunctionally connected to the processor, and is designed to transmit andreceive a frame for a station STA through a wireless network.

An access point AP may represent a centralized control device, a basestation BS, a node-B, an e node-B, a base transceiver system (BTS) or asite control device, and may have some or all functions thereof.

A station may represent a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), userequipment (UE), a user terminal (UT), an access terminal (AT), a mobilestation (MS), a mobile terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station(SS), a wireless device, or a mobile subscriber unit, and may have someor all functions thereof.

A station may perform communication using a desktop computer, a laptopcomputer, a tablet PC, a wireless phone, a mobile phone, a smart phone,an e-book reader, a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP), a portable gameconsole, a navigation system, a digital camera, a Digital MultimediaBroadcasting (DMB) player, a digital audio recorder, a digital audioplayer, a digital picture recorder, a digital picture player, a digitalvideo recorder, and a digital video player.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual view illustrating the configuration of an IEEE802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) system according to an exampleembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an IEEE 802.11 WLAN system includes at least onebasic service set (BSS). BSS represents a set of stations STA 1, STA 2(AP 1), STA 3, STA 4, and STA 5 (AP 2) that may communicate with eachother by performing synchronization with each other, rather thanrepresenting a designated region.

BSSs are divided into infrastructure BSSs and independent BSSs (IBSSs),and BSS 1 and BSS 2 each represent an infrastructure BSS. BSS1 mayinclude a station STA1, an access point STA2 (AP1) providing adistribution service, and a distribution system DS connecting aplurality of access points STA2 (AP1) and STA5 (AP2). In BSS1, theaccess point STA2 (AP1) manages the station STA1.

BSS2 may include stations STA3 and STA4, an access point STA5 (AP2)providing a distribution service, and the distribution system DSconnecting a plurality of access points STA2 (AP1) and STA5 (AP2). InBSS2, the access point STA5 (AP2) manages the stations STA3 and STA4.

Meanwhile, an independent BSS is a BSS operating in an ad-hoc mode.Since an IBSS does not include an access point, there is no centralizedmanagement entity performing a management function at the center of theIBSS. That is, stations in an IBSS are managed in a distributed manner.All of the stations in the IBSS may be provided as a mobile station, andform a self-contained network since the stations are not allowed accessto the DS.

The access points STA2 (AP1) and STA5 (AP2) each provide the stationsSTA1, STA3 and STA4 connected thereto with access to a DS through awireless medium. In general, communication between the stations STA1,STA3 and STA4 in the BSS1 or the BSS2 is achieved through the accesspoints STA 2 (AP 1) and STA 5 (AP 2). However, when a direct link isset, direction communication between the stations STA1, STA3 and STA4may be possible.

A plurality of infrastructure BSSs may be connected to each otherthrough the distribution system DS. The plurality of BSSs connectedthrough the distribution system DS are referred to as an extendedservice set (ESS). Stations included in an ESS may communicate with eachother, and a station in the same ESS may move from one BSS to anotherBSS while performing seamless communication.

The distribution system DS is a mechanism for allowing one access pointto communicate with another access point. The distribution system DS mayallow an access point to transmit a frame provided for stationsconnected to a BSS that is managed by the access point, or to transmit aframe provided for a station that has moved to another BSS. In addition,the access point may transmit a frame with an external network, such asa wired network. The distribution system DS need not be a network, andmay be implemented in various forms as long as it provides apredetermined distribution service set on IEEE 802.11 standards. Forexample, the distribution system may be a wireless network, such as amesh network, or a physical structure connecting access points to eachother.

An active scanning method according to an example embodiment of theinvention may be applied to the IEEE 802.11 wireless system describedabove, and further applied to various networks, such as a WPAN (WirelessPersonal Area Network) and a WBAN (Wireless Body Area Network), inaddition to an IEEE 802.11 wireless system.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual view illustrating an association process of astation in an infrastructure basic service set (BSS).

In order for a station STA to transmit and receive data in an IBSS,first, the station STA needs to be connected to an access point AP.

Referring to FIG. 2, an association process of a station STA in aninfrastructure BSS is largely divided into 1) a probe step of searchingfor an access point AP, 2), an authentication step of authenticating thefound access point, and 3) and an association step of performingassociation with the authenticated access point AP.

The station STA may search for nearby access points through a probeprocess. The probe process is classified as a passive scanning method oran active scanning method. The passive scanning method is performed byoverhearing a beacon transmitted by nearby access points APs. Meanwhile,the active scanning method is performed by broadcasting probe requestframes. An access point having received the probe request frame maytransmit a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frameto a corresponding station. The station STA may determine whether thereare nearby access points APs by receiving the probe response frames.

Thereafter, the station STA performs authentication with respect to thefound access point AP, thereby performing authentication with respect tothe plurality of access points APs. Authentication algorithms accordingto the IEEE 802.11 standard are classified into an open system algorithmfor exchanging two authentication frames and a shared key algorithm forexchanging four authentication frames. By exchanging an authenticationrequest frame and an authentication response frame based on such anauthentication algorithm, the station STA performs authentication withrespect to access points AP.

Finally, the station STA selects one access point among the plurality ofauthenticated access points APs, and performs an association with theselected access point AP. That is, a station STA transmits anassociation request frame to the selected access point AP, and theaccess point AP having received the association request frame transmitsan association response frame corresponding to the association requestframe to the station STA. Through the process of exchanging theassociation request frame and the association response frame, thestation STA performs the association with respect to the access pointAP. FIG. 3 is a conceptual view illustrating a data transmission processof an access point according to an example embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 3, an access point AP periodically broadcasts abeacon, and broadcasts a beacon including a delivery traffic indicationmessage (DTIM) at an interval of three beacons. A station STA1 and STA2in a power save mode (PSM) may periodically awaken and receive beacons,and check a traffic indication map (TIM) or DTIM included in the beacon,thereby determining whether data to be transmitted to the station STA1and STA2 is buffered in the access point. If the data is buffered in theaccess point, the station STA1 and STA2 is kept awake to receive thedata from the access point AP. If the data is not buffered in the accesspoint, the station STA1 and STA2 returns to a power save mode (PSM),that is, a doze state.

That is, if a bit in a TIM corresponding to AID of the station STA1 andSTA2 is set to 1, the station STA1 and STA2 sends an access point AP aPower Save (PS)-Poll frame (or a trigger frame) indicating that thestation STA1 and STA2 is awake and ready to receive data, and the accesspoint AP confirms that the station STA1 and STA2 is ready to receivedata by receiving the PS-Poll frame, and transmits data or anacknowledgement (ACK) to the station STA1 and STA2. When an ACK istransmitted to the station STA1 and STA2, the access point AP transmitsdata to the station STA1 and STA2 at an adequate point in time.Meanwhile, if a bit in a TIM corresponding to AID of the station STA1and STA2 is set to 0, the station STA1 and STA2 returns to a power savemode (PSM).

Access point scanning methods include an active scanning method and apassive scanning method. According to the active scanning method, astation transmits a probe request frame having the configuration shownin FIG. 4, and an access point having received the probe request frameresponds by transmitting a probe response frame having the configurationshown in FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. 4 is a conceptual view illustrating theconfiguration of a probe request frame, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are conceptualviews illustrating the configuration of a probe response frame.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an active scanning method in multiplechannels. Referring to FIG. 7, since a station is not aware of a channelin which a desired access point (that is, an access point to whichaccess is desired), the station sequentially performs the same scanningprocess in each channel. The station may transmit a probe request framein a channel, and during a maximum waiting time, receive probe responseframes from access points. In this case, when the station receives aprobe response frame from a desired access point, the station mayperform an access process (that is, an authentication process and anassociation process) with respect to the access point.

Meanwhile, when the station fails to receive a probe response frame froma desired access point, the station may move to another channel andperform the above process. If there is an access point desired by thestation in an N^(th) channel, the amount of time taken to find thecorresponding access point is [Nxmax waiting time].

FIG. 8 is a conceptual view illustrating a passive scanning method inmultiple channels.

Referring to FIG. 8, a station scans an access point by receiving abeacon frame that is periodically transmitted from the access point. Thestation is not aware of when a desired access point (that is, an accesspoint to which access is desired) transmits a beacon frame, and thus thestation receives beacon frames during a predetermined time that is setfor one channel (for example, a normal beacon interval of an accesspoint), and moves to another channel.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual view illustrating the channel configuration of a5 GHz band

Referring to FIG. 9, the IEEE 802.11n standard or the IEEE 802.11acstandard provide that broadband data may be transmitted bysimultaneously using a primary channel and a plurality of secondarychannels. The IEEE 802.11ac standard provides that 40 MHz, 80 MHz and160 MHz are supported in addition to 20 MHz.

However, it is provided that management frames, such as a probe requestframe and probe response frame for active scanning and a beacon framefor passive scanning, are transmitted and received only through aprimary channel. For example, when an access point uses channel 1 as aprimary channel, and uses channels 2, 3 and 4 as secondary channels, anda station transmits a probe request frame through channel 1, the accesspoint may transmit a probe response frame through channel 1. However, ifa station transmits a probe request frame through channel 2, 3 or 4, theaccess point does not transmit a probe response frame.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an active scanning method according to anexample embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10, a station 10 may transmit a probe request framethrough a certain channel (S100). The station 10 may support a singlechannel or a broad band. When the station 10 supports a broad band, thecertain channel may represent a primary channel or a secondary channelof the station 10.

Upon receiving a probe request frame through the certain channel, anaccess point 20 may generate a probe response frame includinginformation about a primary channel of the access point 20 if thecertain channel is a secondary channel of the access point 20 (S101). Inthis case, the access point 20 may represent an access point supportinga broad band, and may receive a probe request frame through a primarychannel or a plurality of secondary channels of the access point 20.

The access point 20 may transmit the probe response frame including theinformation about the primary channel of the access point 20 through thecertain channel (S102). The station 10 having received the proberesponse frame may move to a channel represented by the primary channelinformation included in the probe response frame, and perform an accessprocess with respect to the access point 20 on the correspondingchannel. That is, the station 10 may perform an authentication processand then an association process on the channel represented by theprimary channel information.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an active scanning method in a singlechannel according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, the station transmits a probe request framethrough a single channel, and an access point receives a probe requestframe through a primary channel and a secondary channel of the accesspoint. It is assumed that an access point to which the station desiresaccess is access point, and access point uses channel 4 as a primarychannel, and uses channels 1, 2 and 3 as secondary channels.

First, the station may transmit a probe request frame through channel 1,and receive probe response frames transmitted from access points duringa maximum waiting time. When point 1 and access point 2 each use channel1 as a primary channel, access point 1 may transmit probe response frame1 corresponding to the probe request frame and access point 2 maytransmit probe response frame 2 corresponding to the probe requestframe.

Meanwhile, access point, which uses channel 1 as a secondary channel,may generate probe response frame including information about a primarychannel of access point (that is, channel 4), and transmit the generatedprobe response frame through channel 1.

The station receives probe response frame (that is, a probe responseframe transmitted from access point which the station desires to find)through channel 1 during the maximum waiting time, thereby acquiringprimary channel information included in probe response frame.Thereafter, the station moves to channel 4 represented by the primarychannel information, and performs an access process (that is, anauthentication process and an association process) with respect toaccess point.

In the conventional technology, a station may sequentially performscanning in the order of [channel 1→channel 2→channel 3→channel 4] tofind access point, which requires the amount of time [maximum waitingtime×4]. Meanwhile, according to an example embodiment of the presentinvention, access point is found merely by performing scanning onchannel 1, and the time taken to find a desired access point is reduced.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an active scanning method according toanother example embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 12, a station may transmit probe request framesthrough a plurality of channels (S200). The station may support abroadband, and transmit probe request frames through a primary channeland a secondary channel. For example, when a station uses channel 1 as aprimary channel, and uses channels 2, 3 and 4 as secondary channels, thestation may simultaneously transmit probe request frames throughchannels 1, 2, 3 and 4.

If an access point having received a probe request frame supports asingle channel, the access point transmits a probe response framethrough the corresponding channel. Meanwhile, upon receiving the proberequest frame through a plurality of channels, an access pointsupporting a broadband may transmit a probe response frame through oneof the plurality of channels. If all of the plurality of channels aresecondary channels of the access point, the access point may transmit aprobe response frame including primary channel information of the accesspoint through one of the plurality of channels. Meanwhile, if there is aprimary channel of the access point in the plurality of channels, theaccess point may transmit a probe response frame (that is, a proberesponse frame including information about a primary channel of theaccess point) through the primary channel.

The station may receive a probe response frame from each access pointthrough the plurality of channels (S201). The respective probe responseframe may include information about a primary channel of the respectiveaccess point.

The station may acquire primary channel information from a proberesponse frame transmitted by a desired access point (that is, an accesspoint to which the station desires access) among the probe responseframes. Thereafter, the station may move to a channel represented by theprimary channel information, and perform an access process (that is, anauthentication process and an association process) with respect to thecorresponding access point (S202).

FIG. 13 is a conceptual view illustrating an example of an activescanning method according to another example embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 13, a station transmits probe request frames through aplurality of channels (that is, channels 1, 2, 3 and 4), and an accesspoint receives the probe request frame through a primary channel and asecondary channel. An access point to which the station desires accessis access point, and access point uses channel 7 as a primary channel,and uses channels 4, 5 and 6 as secondary channels.

The station receives probe response frames 1, 2 and 3 during a maximumwaiting time for channel 1, receives probe response frames 4, 5 and 6during a maximum waiting time for channel 2, receives probe responseframes 7, 8 and 9 during a maximum waiting time for channel 3, andreceives probe response frames 10, 11 and 12 during a maximum waitingtime for channel 4. Since access point has received a probe requestframe through channel 4, which is a secondary channel of the accesspoint, access point may transmit a probe response frame includinginformation about a primary channel (that is, channel 7) of access pointthrough channel 4 which is a secondary channel of access point.

Since probe response frame 12 is a probe response frame transmitted fromaccess point to which the station desires access among the proberesponse frames received by the station, the station performs an accessprocess to access point based on probe response frame 12.

That is, the station may move to channel 7 represented by the primarychannel information included in probe response frame 12 and perform anaccess process (that is, an authentication process and an associationprocess) with respect to access point on channel 7.

FIG. 14 is a conceptual view illustrating another example of an activescanning method according to another example embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 14, a station transmits probe request frames through aplurality of channels (that is, channels 1, 2, 3 and 4), and an accesspoint receives a probe request frame through a primary channel and asecondary channel. An access point that the station desires to find isaccess point, and access point uses channel 4 as a primary channel, anduses channels 1, 2 and 3 as secondary channels.

For example, if the station operates on a 4 MHz band, and each channelcorresponds to a 1 MHz band, the station may transmit a probe requestframe through multiple channels (that is, channels 1, 2, 3 and 4).Similarly, if the station operates based on a 2 MHz band, and eachchannel corresponds to a 1 MHz band, the station may transmit a proberequest frame through multiple channels (that is, channels 1 and 2,channels 2 and 3, or channels 3 and 4). Multiple channels may include aprimary channel and a secondary channel. The station receives proberesponse frames 1, 2 and 3 during a maximum waiting time for channel 1,receives probe response frames 4, 5 and 6 during a maximum waiting timefor channel 2, receives probe response frames 7, 8 and 9 during amaximum waiting time for channel 3, and receives probe response frames10, 11 and 12 during a maximum waiting time for channel 4.

Since access point has received probe request frames through allchannels (that is, channels 1, 2, 3 and 4), access point may transmit aprobe response frame through one of the channels. There is a primarychannel of the access point among the channels, and thus access pointmay transmit a probe response frame through channel 4. Probe responseframe 12 transmitted by access point may include primary channelinformation about access point. Meanwhile, if access point operates on a4 MHz band, and each channel corresponds to a 1 MHz band, access pointmay transmit a probe response frame including primary channelinformation through multiple channels (that is, channels 1, 2, 3 and 4).Similarly, if the access point operates on a 2 MHz band, and eachchannel corresponds to a 1 MHz band, access point may transmit a proberesponse frame including primary channel information through multiplechannels (that is, channels 1 and 2, channels 2 and 3, or channels 3 and4). Multiple channels may include a primary channel and a secondarychannel.

Since probe response frame 12 is a probe response frame transmitted fromaccess point that the station desires to find among the probe responseframes received by the station, the station performs an access processto access point based on probe response frame 12.

That is, the station may perform an access process (that is, anauthentication process and an association process) with respect toaccess point on channel 4 represented by primary channel informationincluded in probe response frame 12.

As is apparent from the above, a station may receive a probe responseframe including information about a primary channel of an access point,and perform access with respect to the access point on a channelrepresented by the information about the primary channel, therebyreducing the time spent scanning for an access point.

While the example embodiments of the present invention and theiradvantages have been described in detail, it should be understood thatvarious changes, substitutions and alterations may be made hereinwithout departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method by a station for performing activescanning, the method comprising: transmitting, over a first channelwidth, a probe request frame; and receiving, over the first channelwidth, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request framefrom an access point, wherein the probe response frame includesinformation on a primary channel of the access point, wherein the firstchannel width includes a plurality of channels each having the secondchannel width, and wherein the information on the primary channelindicates which channel is the primary channel among the plurality ofchannels included in the first channel width.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the first channel width is greater than the second channelwidth.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first channel widthcorresponds to multiple of the second channel width.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the probe response frame includes information on aprimary channel of the access point, the information on the primarychannel being information on location of the primary channel.
 5. Amethod by an access point for responding to active scanning, the methodcomprising: receiving, over a first channel width, a probe requestframe; and generating, over the first channel width, a probe responseframe in response to the probe request frame, wherein the probe responseframe includes information on a primary channel of the access point,wherein the first channel width includes a plurality of channels eachhaving the second channel width, and wherein the information on theprimary channel indicates which channel is the primary channel among theplurality of channels included in the first channel width.
 6. The methodof claim 5, wherein the first channel width is greater than the secondchannel width.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the first channel widthcorresponds to multiple of the second channel width.
 8. The method ofclaim 5, wherein the probe response frame includes information on aprimary channel of the access point, the information on the primarychannel being information on location of the primary channel.
 9. Astation for performing active scanning, the station comprising: atransceiver; and a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:transmit, using the transceiver, over a first channel width, a proberequest frame; and receive, using the transceiver, over the firstchannel width, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe requestframe from an access point, wherein the probe response frames includeinformation on a primary channel of the access point, wherein the firstchannel width includes a plurality of channels each having the secondchannel width, and wherein the information on the primary channelindicates which channel is the primary channel among the plurality ofchannels included in the first channel width.
 10. An access point forresponding to active scanning, the access point comprising: atransceiver; and a processor, wherein the processor is configured to:receive, using the transceiver, over a first channel width, a proberequest frame; and generate, using the transceiver, over the firstchannel width, a probe response frame in response to the probe requestframe, wherein the probe response frame includes information on aprimary channel of the access point, wherein the first channel widthincludes a plurality of channels each having the second channel width,and wherein the information on the primary channel indicates whichchannel is the primary channel among the plurality of channels includedin the first channel width.